'It Is A Two-Horse Race' - Aakash Chopra Names The Two Players That Will Open The Innings For Team India vs Australia In The First Test

We are less than a week away from the start of what promises to be a thrilling Test series between India and Australia. Former India cricketer, Aakash Chopra opines that Prithvi Shaw will open over KL Rahul and Shubman Gill in the first Test alongside Mayank Agarwal. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy commences on 17th December in Adelaide with a pink-ball day-night contest.

That KL Rahul didn’t even play, let alone open, in the second warm-up game between India A and Australia A makes Chopra assure that he will not be part of the first Test making it a straight shootout between Shaw and Gill for the opening spot.

Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and opted to bat. After losing Agarwal early, Shaw and Gill attacked the bowlers and scored runs at about 10 per over. After which both departed for similar scores.

In his YouTube video, Aakash Chopra said, “KL Rahul was not played which means that he is probably not in the Indian team’s thinking at the moment. Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill both got a chance to play. This means that it is now a two-horse race between them on who will open with Mayank Agarwal. Both scored almost the same number of runs but then there is another innings coming.”

Gill can come in place of Kohli in the middle-order: Aakash Chopra

Chopra feels that the diminutive opener will get the nod ahead of Gil as he opened in New Zealand as well. However, the right-hander has been an awful form of late. The Delhi Capitals opener bagged 8 single-digit scores in the IPL and was eventually dropped before the final.

He was dismissed for another couple of single-digit scores in 4 innings in the practice matches. Chopra mentioned that the 21-year-old is having technical problems and leaves plenty of gap between pad and bat.

“It looks like Prithvi Shaw will be Mayank Agarwal’s opening partner in the first Test match because he is sent ahead while Shubman Gill is at No.3,” continued Aakash Chopra.

“There was a gap between the bat and the pad and the ball went on to hit the stumps. A similar thing happened with him in the IPL as well against the Rajasthan Royals when Jofra Archer dismissed him.”

The 43-year-old Aakash Chopra believes that while Shaw is likely to open ahead of Gill, the KKR batsman can slot in the eleven at number 4 when Virat Kohli leaves after the first Test. The Indian skipper will return home to attend the birth of his first child and hence, will miss the next three Test matches.

“I feel because Prithvi Shaw has scored at least these many runs and had also played decently in the last Test match against New Zealand, the balance looks to be tilted slightly towards him. Shubman Gill is promising, he is playing well but he might have to still wait. It is possible that he might come in when Kohli leaves,” Aakash Chopra maintained.

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